Oklahoma City Call Center Still Unfinished, but Lines Form for Openings

Aug. 7--While a nationwide report out this week said planned layoffs by U.S. firms jumped 31 percent in July, close to 400 job seekers arrived at the first of three job fairs for a new AAA Operations Center in northwest Oklahoma City.

An eager line of applicants began forming at noon Wednesday for the event's 6 p.m. start, AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai said.

"There were 370 people, but it looked more like 3,000 to me," Mai said of the turnout. "It was just amazing to me; I've never seen so many people in one area who were so well-dressed and with resumes."

Still under construction, the center will be a contact location for millions of AAA members in 10 states. AAA initially is looking to hire between 350 and 400 employees to fill insurance policy servicing, underwriting and claims positions, Mai said. The center's ultimate goal is to have a work force of more than 800.

Oklahoma City, its economy and other amenities, made the final cut for the center's location, beating out Indianapolis, he said. And after Wednesday, Mai said, it's easy to understand why. "Oklahoma City's work force is educated, sincere and motivated. ... We were really impressed with the quality of people who turned out. It was gratifying."

Increase in layoffs The same scenario isn't playing out everywhere, though.

After dropping to a 15-month low in June, the bump up in layoffs last month was the first increase in job cuts since January, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

So far this year, employers have announced 994,048 job cuts, a sign of continuing anxious times for American workers.

The increase was not unexpected, said John Challenger, the company's chief executive officer.

"While there are signs that the economy is stabilizing and the pace of layoffs is slowing, we are still a long way from a full recovery. In fact, monthly job cuts are likely to return to levels in excess of 100,000 by the fourth quarter."

Expansions ahead But David Lewis, a metro-area manager for Express Staffing Professionals, said he sees a very different picture here.

"In Oklahoma, and in Oklahoma City especially, companies are starting to expand," he said. At Express, "we've had just over a 15 percent jump in contract demand in the last eight weeks from the eight weeks before."

And that sizable increase was in all sectors, he said. New placements include administrative support and accounting positions at energy companies, a vital part of the state's economy.

"When energy companies begin hiring, albeit slowly, that's good for Oklahoma," Lewis said.

The recovery is slower in rural area, he added.

According to the Challenger report, hardest hit nationwide was the transportation industry, which said it would reduce payrolls by almost 28,000 positions, up 400 percent from June's layoffs. Telecommunications jobs also suffered, with job cuts climbing 209 percent from June.

Challenger did suggest there could be an upcoming surge in retail hiring, even though gains in that industry may be marginal this holiday season.

Lewis agreed.

"We've already got the heads-up for retail hiring," he said.

"And that tells us that retail owners are hopeful. What we see confirms that we are in recovery."

-----

To see more of The Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.